1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video-recording reservation management apparatus, method, program, and system in which video-recording reservations are mutually substituted between a plurality of devices which are connected to a network, are communicatable, and have video-recording functions and, particularly, relates to a video-recording reservation management apparatus, method, program, and system in which video-recording reservations are mutually substituted between a plurality of devices having communication functions used when connected to an in-home network environment such as video devices such as HDD recorders or personal computers.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Conventionally, video-recording devices such as AV devices such as HDD recorders and personal computers, which are connected and used in a home network environment in a home and have communication functions, have video-recording reservation functions. There has been proposed a system in which, when video-recording is reserved in a video-recording device to which video-recording can be reserved, and the video-recording cannot be performed, for example, since a storage apparatus such as a HDD does not have free space, the video-recording is substituted by searching another device on a network having a non-operating resource which is video-recordable in the time period required by the video-recording reservation and registering a video-recording reservation in the other searched AV device (JP 2001-333337). Furthermore, there has also been proposed a system in which, when video-recording reservations having the same contents are made in a plurality of AV devices on a network, the redundant video-recording reservations are avoided, and resources for video-recording are effectively utilized by cancelling the video-recording reservation except for one of them (JP 2005-252402).
However, in such a conventional system, which causes another device to substitute a video-recording reservation, the search per se of other video-recording devices on the network which can substitute video-recording cannot be performed when the power of the device in which a video-recording reservation is made is not turned on in the video-recording reserved time period or when the communication function thereof malfunctions; and there is a problem that the reserved video-recording cannot be substituted by another video-recording device on the network unless the AV device, in which the video-recording reservation is made, operates normally.